Cakes

When you buy a bag of Meyer lemons, you need to use that bag of Meyer lemons. I made these lovely lemon pudding cakes a few weeks ago and loved the flavor of the Meyer lemons, sweeter than a regular lemon but still tart. How could I go wrong by using them in a lemon pound cake?

I’ve been on a kick with this cookbook lately. It’s a great resource and it’s where I found the recipe for this pound cake. I’ve made a cold oven pound cake before that is really special, but is pretty involved, whipping egg whites and such. This cake come together quickly and uses a food processor to mix the wet ingredients so that curdling isn’t an issue thanks to the quick mixing speed.

You can make this pound cake in an 8-inch loaf pan or in mini loaf pans, which is what I chose to do so that I could give these as gifts. I added lemon juice, lemon zest and poppy seeds to the classic pound cake recipe to make these cakes. From what I can tell, this would create a fantastic plain pound cake as well and I’ll probably be trying it soon.

The flavor of this cake is perfectly lemony. The texture is light and the crust is slightly crunchy and totally delicious. I think it’s sugaring the pans, one of my favorite things to do with quick breads, and now with pound cake. The small loaf pans allow you to have a small piece that still looks complete instead of cutting a larger piece in half. I think these would be perfect for a brunch, bay shower, tea party, etc.

To make the cakes: Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl, then set aside.

In the food processor combine the sugar, lemon juice, zest, eggs and vanilla and mix until combined, about 10 seconds. With the processor still running, pour in the melted butter through the tube in a slow, steady stream. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

Sift 1/3 to half of the flour mixture over the wet ingredients and whisk until almost no flour is visible. Repeat with the remaining flour in 1 or 2 more additions. Whisk in the poppyseds just to combine and be careful not to overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan/s. If you use mini loaf pans, 2 cups of batter each is about right.

Bake for 40 minutes (for mini loaves) and 50-60 minutes for an 8-inch loaf until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

To make the glaze: after sifting the sugar add lemon juice, start with 1 tablespoon, then add juice one teaspoon at a time until it reaches the consistency you desire. Drizzle onto the cooled cakes.

This little cake is the cutest and most perfect Valentine’s treat for you and your special someone. It would also be the perfect birthday cake for a small party or as part of a dessert buffet.

Cupcakes are delicious and easy and not as much trouble as a layer cake. And you can probably get wonderful cupcakes at a number of bakeries near you since they are still pretty popular and trendy. I have some favorites here in Houston that I visit whenever I’m in the neighborhood, Celebrity being my cupcake bakery of choice. Try the s’mores on Wednesday or Sunday. It’ll change your life. Buying a cupcake for yourself is much more acceptable than buying an entire cake for yourself.

But when you’re wanting something a little extra special a layer cake fits the bill much better than even the most fancy cupcake. Making an 8 or 9-inch cake is probably not something you want to do when you’re making dessert for two because then you’re stuck eating what’s left for a week or, God forbid, throwing it away. Tragedy! This darling 4-inch cake is the perfect size for two, and could really feed 4 or even 6 light eaters.

The cake recipe is from Baked Explorations and is a simple one that comes together easily and bakes up nicely. I was able to get 2 4-inch cakes and a dozen cupcakes out of the batter. I did have an issue with the cupcakes baking and spreading out instead of up, and sticking a little to the pan. So be careful when filling, 2/3 is just fine, and if they do spread onto the pan just use some care when removing them, otherwise the tops will separate from the bottoms. The final cake is a nice balance of substantial yet moist, has a nice chocolate flavor and isn’t too sweet. The coffee in the batter isn’t detectable, it just enhances the chocolate flavor. I used 2 4-inch springform pans that I bought at Hobby Lobby when I made a smash cake for Betsy back in September. At the time I wasn’t sure how much use I’d get out of them or how they’d hold up, but now I’m sure they were a good purchase.

The frosting is from Tasty Kitchen, Pioneer Woman’s recipe sharing site. Can you tell I’m kind of obsessed with her? I can honestly say I haven’t made anything she’s endorsed that I haven’t loved and wanted to make again and tell everyone about. This frosting is a little weird, cooking together flour and milk as the base, but if Ree says it’s good I go for it. And it is very good. It takes some patience (and a stand mixer) but is really nice and smooth, velvety even. It’s lovely, buttery, and not so sugary sweet. The amount the recipe made iced the cake and a dozen cupcakes just about perfectly. I also love the contrast of deep dark chocolate cake to pure white frosting. Opt for a chocolate frosting if you just can’t imagine chocolate cake with anything but chocolate frosting.

I cut my two 4-inch cakes in half to create a four layer cake. I filled the first and third layer with a little raspberry preserves, but you can leave it out completely, or use cherry or strawberry. In order to fill the layer without it oozing out the sides, create a dam of icing around the perimeter of the cake layer and fill the inside with the preserves. The best tool for this is a pastry bag with a large round tip, but a plastic bag with a small corner cut off would work as well.

For the toppers I found some sticky felt hearts at a craft store and simply stuck two together with a toothpick between them. You could also cut hearts from craft paper and decorate them, or make glittered hearts for a fancy sparkling topper. You could leave the cake plain, white, simple and clean. Or top with a few raspberries, cherries or strawberries.

I added a little bowl of Valentine’s colored M&Ms to the table to photograph this cake to add some color. That is what initially drew this little taste tester to the table. But he ended up really enjoying the cake. I couldn’t help but put this picture in since his stripes just so happen to coordinate with the cake. I have a blog for the kids, so I told myself I’d make this just a food blog, but so far they’ve managed to sneak their way into 3 posts. So I’ve changed my tune and you’ll likely see more of the tiny taste testers in the future. Enjoy!

Grease 2 4-inch cake pans (or 2 8-inch cake pans and line them with parchment) and then dust with cocoa powder. Line one muffin tin with cupcake liners, if using. Set aside.

Break up chocolate and place it and the cocoa powder in a heat proof bowl. Pour hot coffee over and whisk to melt chocolate until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the milk and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine butter and sugars and beat until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add in vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds.

With the mixer on low, add the flour and chocolate mixture, alternating between the two, starting and ending with flour in a total of 5 additions (flour, chocolate, flour, chocolate, flour). Beating just to combine between additions. Fold together with a spatula to make sure it’s evenly mixed.

Divide the batter between the pans, filling 4-inch pans about 2/3 full, cupcakes 2/3 full and simply divide the batter equally for 8-inch pans.

Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, 4-inch cakes for 25-30 minutes, and 8-inch cakes for 35-40 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean when they’re done.

Let cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove and let cool completely on wire racks.

For the Frosting

Combine flour and milk in a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture becomes thick, like brownie batter. This happens quickly once it starts to thicken and if you don’t whisk it, then it will be lumpy with bits of cooked flour and you’ll have to start over.

Remove from the heat, continuing to stir/whisk for a minute. Stir in the vanilla, then let it cool completely to room temperature. If it is still warm when you continue with the recipe it won’t come out right. (At least that’s what the original directions say, I haven’t tested it and probably won’t with such a warning!)

In a stand mixer combine the butter and sugar and cream until light and fluffy and the graininess of the sugar has decreased or is completely gone. Mine never got totally non-grainy, but beat for about 5 minutes.

Add the completely cooled flour mixture to the butter and sugar and beat on medium-high until it is light and fluffy. If it looks separated, continue to beat it until it resembles whipped cream. This took around 8 minutes.

Assemble the cake

Slice both cake layers in half, getting them as even and as straight as possible. A serrated knife is good for this.

Plop a little frosting in the center of the cake plate and lay the first layer down. This keeps it from moving around while frosting. Tear a few strips of wax or parchment paper and slide them just barely underneath the cake. This keeps the cake plate clean while you frost. Just slide them out after you finish.

Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip and fill with about 1/2 cup of frosting. Spread a little layer of frosting on the cake layer, then pipe a circle around the edge of the layer. Spread a thin layer, about 1 tablespoon, of raspberry preserves inside of the circle, then top with the next layer and press down slightly.

Spread a nice layer of frosting on the layer, then top with the next layer.

Repeat the raspberry filling layer, then finish with the last layer.

Frost the cake with a thin coat of frosting, being careful not to contaminate the bog bowl of frosting with any chocolate bits. Set in the fridge for an hour. This is a crumb coat. Frost with another coat, thicker this time, this is the final coat. Decorate as desired.

The January 2014 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Francijn of “Koken in de Brouwerij”. She challenged us all to bake layered cakes in the tradition of Baumkuchen (tree cake) and Schichttorte (layered cake).

The last Daring Bakers I participated in was in January of 2012. That’s right. 2 years ago. In January of 2012 we had just moved in to our rent house in Houston and not too long after I discovered I was pregnant with Betsy. With a move and a new baby that year I was kept pretty busy. By that time I was out of the habit and blogging wasn’t a priority, so 2013 came and went without any Daring Bakers challenges. But with my resolution to blog more came a desire to get back into it. I’d forgotten how many things I’d made that I’d never have made otherwise. Thanks, Daring Bakers. This is a fun group to be a part of and I’m glad to be back. Hoping to continue participating this year without interruption…with the exception of the month of June. And maybe July. We’ll see how it goes.

Tree cake, or baumkuchen, is something I’d never heard of or seen before taking a look at the January challenge. And to be honest, I might not have made it even if I had seen it somewhere. The process of making the cake is time intensive, baking the cake in 10-12 layers, and the cake batter is more involved than cakes I’ve been making recently. Separating eggs and beating egg whites to stiff peaks and folding them in is something my lazy self has not had the desire to do. But it was a lot of fun and I actually enjoyed the entire process and the final result.

One of the only problems I encountered is that I didn’t do a great job of estimating how thick to spread my layers in order to end up with 10-12 total. My first layer was too thick, then the next 6 or so were too thin, and by that time I had so much batter left over that my final cake was probably 16 layers total and had baked for at least 12 extra minutes. This made the bottom of the cake (the first layer I made) pretty dark. I’m afraid this also made the cake just a tad dry. I also chose not to glaze the cake with jam before glazing it with chocolate. That would’ve likely added some moisture. BUT the flavor of the cake is really amazing. The almond flavor is present but subtle. I ate all the edges I trimmed off just plain and they were terrific. It’s a really dense and sturdy cake. Great to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.

I used a recipe for my baumkuchen from Allrecipes that is very similar to the one Francijn provided but has cornstarch in the batter. The cooking method I used was Francijn’s, baking each layer for 3-4 minutes at 450°F. I glazed the cake with dark chocolate melted with a little vegetable oil and it came out beautifully and was a nice contrast to the sweet cake.

Here’s a little step by step.

Batter and prepared pan

Cake: baked and trimmed

Layers

Glazing

More Glazing

This challenge was a fun one and was definitely out of my current baking comfort zone. A perfect Daring Bakers challenge. Thanks, Francijn!

Grease an 8×8 pan then line with parchment paper. I used two sheets cut to the width of the pan and crossed them. Trim excess overhang on all sides. Grease the paper and set pan aside.

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add in the almond paste in chunks and beat until well combined. You may see small chunks of paste, but no large chunks. Scrape the bowl down.

Add in powdered sugar, cornstarch, salt and vanilla and beat well. Beats in the yolks, one at a time, until batter is smooth.

In another bowl beat eggs whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add in the granulated sugar and continue to beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Fold whites gently into the batter, then sift flour on top and fold it in as well just until everything is evenly distributed.

Spread some batter, enough to lightly cover the pan, onto the bottom of the prepared pan, being careful not to get batter on the sides of the pan (this batter burns and can then drop onto your cake and be baked in). Bake for 3-4 minutes, until layer is lightly browned. Continue spreading and baking layers until the batter is gone. Aim for 10-12 layers total.

Let cake cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely. Trim the edges off (and save them for snacking!).

Melt the chocolate and oil in a double boiler (or in a small saucepan over very low heat being extra careful not to burn it) until smooth and melted.

Spread the chocolate onto the top and sides of the cake. Let harden (I did this overnight) then flip cake over onto a sheet of parchment and spread chocolate onto the other side of the cake. Note: You don’t have to glaze the bottom/other side with chocolate. I covered the cake and chocolate overnight, remelted the chocolate the next day and glazed the other side. Don’t try to glaze the bottom before the other chocolate is nice and set.

This vanilla cake was one of the many sweet treats we had at Betsy’s 1st birthday party, but the only one I made from scratch. I am a sucker for cake mixes a lot of the time. They’re easy, reliable, and pretty tasty. But there’s something about a scratch cake that is just special. And if there’s a time to have a special cake, it’s at a birthday party!

This vanilla cake is from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. I picked the cookbook up after a trip to visit my sister in New York where I went on a cupcake tasting tour (guided by yours truly with only one participant…myself). I tried Magnolia Bakery, Cupcake Cafe and Billy’s Bakery. I think there was one other? I don’t remember. I’ve had 2 kids since then. But Magnolia is one of the best and the shop is darling and wonderful. It’s definitely a fun place to visit…unless you end up fighting someone for a cupcake after waiting in line for hours. The first time I went there was hardly a soul in the place and so it was a very pleasant experience for me. Another time I was going to go with my sister and as we approached the store and saw the line we turned around and returned empty handed. Workdays are probably a good bet, but I’m not making any promises since I don’t have enough experience. I do think it’s safe to say that weekends will always be crazy.

To make this cake a little special I dyed the layers in shades of purple. It didn’t turn out as “ombre” as I would’ve liked. The colors are too close to the same shade, so if you decide to try the ombre cake make sure that the batters are very different from each other.

The vanilla buttercream is from the same cookbook and is tremendously delicious. I love frosting. This one comes out beautifully white, especially if you use this vanilla. This clear vanilla has a nostalgic flavor for me and is different than pure natural vanilla. In most cases I prefer natural vanilla, and often I use this vanilla paste because I love the vanilla bean flecks. But with a classic vanilla birthday cake I think the clear vanilla is the way to go. Use what you have, but do give the clear vanilla a try if you see it somewhere!

This is definitely a cake I’ll come back to and recommend others try when they want to bake a cake from scratch. It’s really not terribly difficult or time consuming and it’s a nice change from a box cake. Eat up and enjoy!

Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with a parchment circle, grease parchment and flour the pans. Set aside.

Combine the flours in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter until light, then gradually pour in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each. Scrape the bottom of the bowl and beat again to combine.

Alternate adding the flour and milk in 5 parts, beginning and ending with the flour, beating until just combined in between additions. Fold the batter a few times with a large spatula to make sure it is mixed well.

Now you can either dye your layers or divide the batter between the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let cool on racks for 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges and remove the cakes from the pans. Peel off the parchment and let cool completely.

Dye the cup of batter by scooping some gel color out of the pot and mixing it in very well. You want this to be dark, a little darker shade than you want your darkest layer. Adjust by adding more batter or more color.

Divide the rest of the batter evenly into three small bowls.

Take your dyed batter and add one spoonful to the first bowl, 3 spoonfuls to the second bowl and 5 spoonfuls to the third bowl. Divide any remaining colored batter among the bowls to achieve shades that are very distinct. Fold gently until the color is evenly distributed. Be careful to not overmix.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake as above.

*If you’re analyzing these instructions you’ll realize that after adding the colored batter your bowls of batter won’t be divided equally anymore. You’ll have more batter in the darkest layer. So just go with it and accept that they won’t be exactly the same OR you can divide the batter a little unevenly to begin with and then even it out with the colored batter. That method would involve too much brain power for me. The reason I did not add the color directly to the batter is that you have to do more mixing to get a solid and even color, and overmixed cake batter can lead to a heavier cake texture. This less precise method led to better overall color in my cakes and the cake was still light.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

8 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons clear vanilla

pinch of salt

Directions

Beat the butter until creamy.

Beat in 4 cups of the powdered sugar, the milk, salt and vanilla until very smooth and creamy.

Add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time, beating well, until it reaches the desired consistency.

When berries of any kind are in abundance and being sold for cheap I grab them up. Last week I bought 2 pounds of blueberries for something like $2. I’ll eat them by the handful, put them in my yogurt, and in salads. Betsy likes them, too. When half the container was gone I decided to do something a little more exciting with them and made this cake that I’d had bookmarked in my Fine Cooking magazine for the past 2 weeks. Thanks to Sarah who helped me get it done after overestimating my ability to tackle 5 things at once.

This was super simple and beautiful. You could easily serve this at a brunch for guests as a lovely alternative to blueberry muffins. It’s delicious for breakfast, but also a nice evening dessert served with a little ice cream or sweetened whipped cream. To keep the berries from sinking to the bottom, toss them in a little flour after rinsing and patting them dry. Enjoy!

This past weekend I got to help host a baby shower for a good friend. Everything turned out wonderfully. I think the mommy-to-be felt showered with love and lots of pink and ruffles!

One of the ladies suggested a onesie making table. I ordered some adorable iron-on appliques and bought onesies in various sizes. When people were done they could pin them up on a clothesline. Here is the Etsy shop I ordered them from, NanaBleu.

The space we used for the shower didn’t need much decoration, but I made these Martha Stewart tissue paper pom poms. We hung a few and scattered the rest around the room. Here is the link to the craft. The instructions say to use 8 sheets of tissue, but I discovered that 10 made for a much fuller pom pom. Use different widths of paper to create different sized pom poms. Now that I know how to make them, I think I am going to use some in baby girls nursery!

For dessert I made strawberry cupcakes using the Sprinkles cupcake recipe that I also used to make this strawberry cake. One batch of batter and frosting is the perfect amount for a dozen cupcakes. If you’re not a generous froster, you will have some frosting left over.

These lemon coconut cupcakes were a bigger hit than I expected them to be. I breathed a sigh of relief when someone said she loved them since it was the first time I’d tried the recipe. I tinkered with the recipe a bit, which isn’t always a smart move the first time you make something. Thankfully it was a good decision and they were delicious.

These flower cookies were party favors and turned out well. I used a new sugar cookie recipe. Big mistake. The dough softened too much during the rolling and cutting which made getting them from board to cookie sheet a very frustrating task. I think I might have muttered some not so nice language under my breath more than once. On the bright side, the cookies tasted better than my usual sugar cookie. I’m just not sure if the frustration is worth it.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon peel and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Beat just until combined. Fold in coconut.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy.

Springtime calls for desserts like this. Fresh flavors that don’t weigh you down or make you feel too full. This light citrus cake is filled with fresh raspberries and topped with a sweet cream cheese glaze-like frosting. It was the perfect end to the Mother’s Day lunch we had last weekend with some of our friends. The kids played in the pool while we sat outside enjoying the perfectly warm and breezy weather while eating our cake. I’d enjoy a day like that again anytime.

This recipe is from Cooking Light, and I chose it because I’d made it years ago and remembered it being really tasty. The original recipe calls for lemonade concentrate, which I could not find. Weird, right? They had all kinds of juice concentrate, and lots of frozen drink mixers, but no lemonade. I used limeade instead and it was great. My only complaint with the use of juice concentrate in this recipe is that you’re left with a lot left over. If I’d been thinking about not being wasteful, I’d have frozen the rest in ice cube trays and used them to ice down a pitcher of punch or something. But I don’t always think about stuff like that when it matters. I think about it after I’ve tossed what I could have saved.

I added the berries in the middle of the cake because I thought it needed some color and berries are a perfect match for citrus. Blueberries would have also been nice in the center, or a combination of the two. I squished and flattened the raspberries as I layered them on the cake to make sure they made a nice even blanket of berries.

A good thing to know about the cake is that the tops get sticky. When you take them out of the pans to cool, set them bottom side down or else the tops will stick to the cooling racks and make you very frustrated when you try to move them. I am speaking from personal experience and am trying to save you some heartache.

The frosting/glaze gave me some trouble when I frosted/glazed the cake. It’s not thin, like a glaze, but not quite thick enough to be used as frosting. It could be the concentrate that makes the consistency a bit sticky and strange, but it still tastes good. I thought about adding more sugar, but didn’t so as not to make it too ridiculously sweet. The final product wasn’t as pretty and clean as I would have hoped, but it was delicious. I made the cake the night before and refrigerated it overnight. This cake stores very well in the fridge. I did notice a little sugary crunch to the frosting when eaten cold from the fridge, but not so much after it had warmed up slightly. This recipe is one that I’ll come back to. I might try it as cupcakes for a baby shower I’m helping with in June.

Carson enjoyed this cake. Or maybe he just enjoyed the fact that I was letting him have his way with a real fork and a nice big slice of cake…

To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.

Pour batter into cake pans; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, place butter, cream cheese, concentrate, zest and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And happy birthday to my sweet niece Maren who is having a great 2nd birthday party in Brooklyn today that we are sadly not attending. My parents will be there to help celebrate the big day with my sister’s family. Happy Birthday, Maren!

We don’t really do St. Patrick’s Day, but I was seeing so many fun rainbow and pot o’ gold crafts, snacks and baked goods on blogs and on Pinterest that I just had to make this rainbow cake. I’d originally seen rainbow cakes in layers, which I think is so beautiful and orderly. But I do not have enough cake pans of the same size, nor do I have the patience and willingness to make 3 cakes, then wash and dry the pans and make 3 more. So I found this rainbow cake on Hostess with the Mostess who links to Omnomicon’s tutorial for making this fun and easy rainbow cake that only requires you to have 2 cake pans of the same size! Perfect.

I used the cake recipe from Omnomicon, which is simply 2 white cake mixes and 3 cups of Diet Sprite. No oil, no eggs, no joke. So I suppose this cake could be considered “good” for you. But then I used a not so good for you buttercream instead of the cool whip and pudding frosting that she uses. The cake in its entirety is kind of like ordering a diet coke along side your big greasy hamburger.

The cake recipe honestly had me a little worried. Was this diet soda thing really going to work? Well, it did! For the most part anyway. The cake took a little longer to bake, about 40 minutes, and even then it was so moist that it fell apart a little after being removed from the pans. One layer split almost totally in half, but I was able to squish it back together with the help of a bit of frosting. It was also stickier than normal cake mix cakes. I let the cakes cool upside down on racks and when I went to take them off I had more breakage because it had stuck to the rack. Again, frosting repair was needed. Here is but one of my frosting repair jobs.

But even with the problems that made cake assembly a little difficult it was oh so very tasty, moist and delicious. I think with cupcakes you could use this cake mix + diet soda method and be quite pleased with the results since you don’t have any layering to do, and there’s less guilt involved. I think you might only get 12-18 cupcakes out of one cake mix and 1 1/2 cups of diet soda. 2 cake mixes and 3 cups gave me what a cake mix with the usual eggs and oil would have. But there might be some deflation due to mixing the batter once all together and then again to make the colors. I don’t know. I am not a scientist.

Dividing and coloring the cake batter was pretty simple. I used a scale to get the same amount in each of my 6 bowls, but you could easily eyeball it and not suffer any serious consequences if you were a little off. You really should use gel colors if you want the lovely bright colors. The food coloring you use for dyeing Easter eggs won’t cut it. I used Wilton gel colors. If you do any cake or cookie decorating at all, you should have some of these.

Grease and flour 2 8-inch cake pans and fill the first pan with red, orange and yellow. Pour the red in first, right in the center of the pan. Follow with the orange, also right in the center and try your best to make it a circular shape (mine was kind of amoeba shaped) and the do the same with the yellow. In the second pan fill with green, blue and violet. If you are a science nerd you noticed that I left out Indigo from ROYGBIV. Feel free to divide your batter into 7 and make yourself some indigo colored batter, but I took a short cut and liked the ease and equality of 3 colors in each pan.

Use your favorite recipe for vanilla frosting or the one below. I love the white frosting against the bright colors of the cake. This cake is a lot of fun. It would be great for a kid’s (or adult’s) birthday party. You can use the same method with cupcakes, just layer the colors with teaspoons of batter. In a 9×13 pan it might be hard to get good layers, so you could just randomly dollop colors for more of a tie-dyed effect. If you do bake in something other than 8-inch cake pans, refer to the baking times and temps on the box of cake mix and then check for doneness, adding more time if needed.

There is something just plain fun about making layer cakes. I shared this thought with Ben as I put the finishing touches on this cake that I’d started working on almost 24 hours earlier. Cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bars, etc. are great because they are typically pretty easy, not terribly time consuming, you can make enough for a big group, and they are hard to screw up. Cakes, on the other hand, can be troublesome for me because I worry about them not turning out and then not having a single thing to show for my hours spent in the kitchen. Not to mention you have a big, sugary, calorie laden commitment on your hands…unless you’re giving the cake away or serving it to at least 12 people. You also are not as free to taste test with a cake. You can sneak a cookie, or a cupcake (or 2) without being found out, but steal a slice of cake before it’s served and everyone notices the big gaping hole and the crumbs you’re trying to wipe from your mouth. Despite all that, making a layer cake is therapeutic and the end result is more rewarding than a batch of cookies. I feel the same way about pie. They are both big glorious circles of sweet goodness, meant to be displayed on a pretty cake plate and served on those lovely dessert plates you never use. Am I being too dramatic about baked goods? I guess it wouldn’t be the first time…

For some reason I was in the mood for strawberry cake, maybe it was all the pretty pink cakes I’d been seeing on Pinterest. I’ve made Spinkles strawberry icing before, but never the cupcakes. So I printed the recipes off of Martha Stewart and headed to the store, a girl on a mission to make a delicious cake. I was pretty excited about it.

I doubled the cupcake recipe to make two 9-inch cakes. I made 150% of the frosting. At first I thought about doubling it but when I realized that meant 4 sticks of butter I decided we would just make do with less, and it was plenty.

The cake is dense, not too terribly sweet, and not at all like the strawberry cake you can make from a box. I wonder if it’s even possible to create a cake from scratch that is close in texture to a box mix. If you know of a recipe, please send it to me! Those soft textured cakes do tend to fall apart when frosted and stacked too high, so a dense cake is probably better when you’re planning on stacking 4 layers. I usually grease my cake pans, line them with parchment circles, and then flour them. Somehow I’d managed to run out of parchment and not buy any more. So with a bit of fear I simply greased and floured my pans. They came out perfectly! That was a nice surprise.

The frosting is SWEET. Quite possibly too sweet, not for me, but for the average person. I like sweetness and sugar…a lot. If you are not as much of a sweet fan, maybe use half butter and half cream cheese for the frosting to give it a little tang. Now that I am thinking about it,strawberry cream cheese icing sounds pretty incredible, so I might have to try it myself. The frosting has little strawberry seeds, and some people may not like that. So, use a sieve to strain the seeds from the puree if you’re one of those people. I like my frosting stiff when I frost a layer cake so that it doesn’t start to fall off the cake. In order to achieve this I had to add more powdered sugar than the recipe calls for (which explains the sweetness) but really does make frosting and decorating less stressful.

Here are some tips for layers cakes that I’ve found helpful.

Bake the cakes and let them cool completely. I like to do this either in the morning or the night before. If I do it the night before I wrap the cakes in plastic wrap overnight so they don’t dry out.

Make the frosting on the thicker side. (Unless you’re frosting a really delicate cake. It will pull on the cake too much and cause it to fall apart.)

Level your cakes so that when stacked the cake is not domed or slanted. I use this, but some people are amazing and are able to just use their eyes and a serrated knife.

If you’re slicing the cake layers in half, measure to be as close to half as possible.

Use an offset spatula for frosting. It is just easier, buy one. I use them for loosening the sides of a cake from the pan as well.

When you start frosting, plop a little frosting in the center of your cake plate and center the bottom layer on it. This will keep the cake from moving around.

After layering, put a thin coat of frosting on the cake (your crumb coat) and then chill it for at least an hour. This will allow your next layer to be smoother and free of crumbs.

As far as decorating goes, there are so many beautiful things you can do. I am not so great at the decorating. I used my extra frosting to pipe around the bottom and top of my cake. Here is a great resource from King Arthur that will help you. This kind of thing takes a lot of practice, so you’ll have to practice, and probably mess up. When I was piping the top edge I noticed I’d started using more pressure as I was going around the cake so that when I finished there was a huge difference in the size of the rope. I carefully wiped off what I’d done, smoothed the icing and did it again. A good way to practice, if you ever find yourself with extra icing, is to use different frosting tips and just pipe onto wax paper.

I hope you think of an excuse to make a layer cake! If you can’t, then try this recipe for cupcakes.

Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 2/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.

With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared cake pans. Bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer cakes in pans to wire racks and let cool for 10 minutes. Then, carefully remove cakes from pans and let cool completely on wire racks.

Strawberry Frosting

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed (I used fresh)

1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners’ sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and about 6 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

My sister worked at Half Price Books a couple years ago and got her hands on this neat cookbook from the Cook’s Country editors. It contains recipes that have been around for a while that have been shared by home cooks. Stories accompany each recipe telling who they came from, and how and where they originated. The goal of this cookbook is to bring back recipes that are worth remembering.

This simple chocolate sheet cake is called “Scotch Cake” in the cookbook. The note about this recipe says:

“The origin of the name of this simple sheet cake, with its unique pecan and coconut topping, was a mystery to Melinda and her mother, whose recipe card for it included a note that said: “I don’t understand the name of this cake. I just call it my “boil it” cake”.”

I brought this cake to a potluck dinner, and it received a few compliments. It’s a great potluck dessert because you can make it a day in advance and keep it in the fridge, it’s simple to prepare, you can take it in the pan and it cuts really nicely. After being refrigerated the cake becomes almost fudgy and the coconut pecan icing gets that nice sugary crunch. You know what I’m talking about.

Chocolate Snack Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing

From America’s Best Lost Recipes

Ingredients

Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 sticks of butter

1 cup water

4 teaspoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing

1 stick butter

6 tablespoons whole milk

4 teaspoons cocoa powder

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

For the Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9×13 pan.

Whisk flour and sugar in a large bowl.

Heat butter, water and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Pour over the four mixture and stir to combine.

Stir in the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, vanilla and salt until combined.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the Icing

Heat the butter, milk and cocoa in the same saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts.

Take it off the heat and stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla, coconut and pecans.

Spread over the warm cake and let cool completely.

Serve or refrigerate for up to 3 days. Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.